Smoking articles, such as cigarettes, have a substantially cylindrical rod-shaped structure and include a charge, roll, or column of smokable material, such as shredded tobacco, surrounded by a paper wrapper, to form a “cigarette rod,” “smokable rod,” or a “tobacco rod.” A typical cigarette has a cylindrical filter element axially aligned in an end-to-end relationship with the tobacco rod. Typically, the filter element comprises plasticized cellulose acetate tow circumscribed by a paper material known as “plug wrap.” Certain cigarettes incorporate filter elements comprising, for example, activated charcoal particles. Typically, the filter element is attached to one end of the tobacco rod using a circumscribing wrapping material known as “tipping paper.” A ventilated or air-diluted smoking article can be provided with an optional air-dilution means, such as a series of perforations, each of which extend through the tipping material and plug wrap. Conventional automated cigarette rod making machines that have been employed for the manufacture of commercially popular packaged cigarettes are of the type commercially available from Molins PLC or Hauni-Werke Korber & Co. KG. For example, a description of a commercially available “Protos” cigarette-making machine is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 4,474,190 to Brand, at col. 5, line 48 through col. 8, line 3. Types of equipment suitable for the manufacture of cigarettes also are set forth in U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2004/0129281 to Hancock et al. A cigarette-making machine for making relatively small amounts of cigarettes has been available commercially as “Hauni Baby” from Hauni-Werke Korber & Co. KG. Another type of portable cigarette-making machine has been set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,164,229 to Hurt.
Cigarettes are commercially available in a wide variety of types. For example, different brands of cigarettes are available containing different individual types of tobaccos having unique or characteristic flavors and aromas (e.g., Burley, Oriental, and Virginia tobaccos). Cigarettes are also available that contain blends of tobacco types and/or flavoring agents in or on the tobacco. Different colors and flavors of wrappers are available as well as filter elements providing variety in, for example, flavoring, strength of flavor, and tar yield. Conventionally, consumers obtain commercially available cigarettes in a pack containing a single type of cigarette. Thus, consumers wishing to smoke different types of cigarettes typically have to purchase multiple packs of cigarettes. Some consumers purchase wrapping materials, filters, and loose tobacco for so-called “hand-rolling” of their own cigarettes. While this approach allows a consumer to produce a variety of his own cigarettes, the making process requires a certain degree of skill, time, inconvenience, and/or some specialized equipment. A variety of hand-operated devices for manufacturing individual cigarettes have been proposed. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,376,103 to Wahl; U.S. Pat. No. 2,425,888 to Matteson et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 2,427,884 to Snodgrass; U.S. Pat. No. 2,427,957 to Getts; U.S. Pat. No. 2,496,375 to Carter; U.S. Pat. No. 2,594,747 to DuLaney; U.S. Pat. No. 2,699,788 to Kastner; U.S. Pat. No. 2,714,383 to Ming Gee; U.S. Pat. No. 2,731,971 to Kastner; U.S. Pat. No. 2,850,019 to Sosa; U.S. Pat. No. 2,868,209 to Marcotte; U.S. Pat. No. 3,006,348 to Banning, Jr.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,011,498 to Armelin; U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,056 to Bryant et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,534,367 to Newsome; PCT Application Pub. No. WO 2004/110187 to Szabo; and European Patent No. EP 1,177,731 to Tinkles et al.
Various manners and methods for filling paper cigarette tubes with tobacco have been proposed. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,633,133 to Higgins; U.S. Pat. No. 3,124,141 to Seitter; U.S. Pat. No. 3,202,156 to Kappeler et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,892,245 to Asbill, Jr.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,167,948 to Moscovitch; U.S. Pat. No. 4,572,216 to Josuttis et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,072,740 to Gatschmann et al. See, also, U.S. Pat. No. 3,491,768 to Paynter and U.S. Pat. No. 3,693,313 to Sexstone which set forth manners and methods for manufacturing individual cigarettes by filling a tube or “spill” with a tobacco charge and a filter plug. One type of cigarette-making machine for the manufacture of one cigarette at a time using loose tobacco and a filtered cigarette tube has been marketed as “Bugler™” filter cigarette-making machine by Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation. Another type of automated machine for filling pre-formed cigarette tubes with loose tobacco filler has been available commercially as “Cig-a-mat” from Jenkins & Ott, Inc. A device representative of such a machine is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,645,272 to Jenkins et al. Yet another type of automated device for filling pre-formed cigarette tubes with tobacco filler is an electrically-operated cigarette-making machine that has been available commercially as Easy Roller from C. P. Rolling ApS of Denmark.
A cigarette machine for filling pre-formed cigarette tubes with tobacco filler has been produced commercially by The Central Tobacco Mfg. Co. Ltd. and marketed as “Premier Supermatic™.” Other types of cigarette machines for filing cigarette tubes with tobacco have been marketed as “Escort” and “Pressta Deluxe” by CTC Canada Inc. See, for example, the representative types of machines set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 3,127,900 to Kastner and U.S. Pat. No. 4,771,793 to Kastner.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,710 to Bramhill proposes manufacturing individual cigarettes by inserting a cartridge of tobacco into an empty filter-tip cigarette tube. Other manners and methods for manufacturing individual cigarettes are set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,617 to Ruppert et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,536 to Liebich; U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,830 to Brackmann et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,366 to Liebich; U.S. Pat. No. 5,141,000 to Ruppert et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,241 to Ruppert et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,248 to Ruppert et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,495 to Ruppert et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,692 to Ruppert et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,377 to Gerding et al.; and U.S. Published Pat. App. 2006/0021625 to Nyffler.
Yet other manners and methods for fabricating cigarettes have been proposed. For example, the manufacture of cigarettes using a dispensing-type machine that has been proposed, and such a machine that has the referred to as “Cigaretterie” has been marketed by National Amusement Network, Inc. A device representative of such a machine is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,666,975 to Lord.
It would be desirable to provide, in a commercial setting, small lots of cigarettes having different user/customer-selectable profiles in response to an individual customer order. It would also be desirable to provide for the manufacture of relatively small lots of cigarettes in an efficient and effective manner. It would be desirable that all of the cigarettes within each lot are of consistent quality. That is, it also would be desirable in one aspect that all of the cigarettes within a lot may be selected by a user/customer to be substantially identical to one another in appearance, size, shape, weight and component materials, including tobacco filler materials. It would be desirable in another aspect to provide a small lot of cigarettes wherein a plurality within the lot or individual cigarettes have different user/customer-selected characteristics such as flavored wrappers of differing types and strengths, flavored tobaccos, different colored wrappers, different species of tobacco, different blends of tobacco, or different filter element constructions. It also would be highly desirable that the cigarettes within a lot exhibit similar performance characteristics, such as smoking character, puff count and smoke yield. Alternatively, it may be desirable to efficiently and effectively manufacture simultaneously a plurality of cigarettes with different smoking characteristics (e.g., flavors, tobacco types), all while maintaining consistent smoking quality of the cigarettes